SEN. GRACE POE'S OPENING STATEMENTFOI Hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media

Good morning. Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat. The hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, will now come to order.

The committee's main concern in today's hearing is the need to pass a Freedom of Information Act in order to institutionalize the constitutional right of the people to information on matters of public concern, and the State's mandate to implement a policy of full public disclosure of all matters involving public interest, subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law. This is a very popular measure in the Senate so we have several bills.

The bills on implementing the people's right to information have been primarily referred to our committee. These include the following:

Senate Bill No. 24 by Senator Honasan

Senate Bill No. 54 by Senator Pangilinan

Senate Bill No. 72 by Senator Cayetano

Senate Bill No. 82 by Senator Escudero

Senate Bill No. 94 by Senator Trillanes

Senate Bill No. 149 by Senator Ejercito

Senate Bill No. 159 by Senator Poe

Senate Bill No. 248 by Senator Legarda

Senate Bill No. 306 by Senator Zubiri

Senate Bill No. 315 by Senator Angara

Senate Bill No. 534 by Senator Trillanes

Senate Bill No. 708 by Senator Aquino

Senate Bill No. 1014 by Senator Villanueva

In 2014, there were 94 nations that had already enacted their own FOI legislation while another 53 countries were in the process of ratifying their own FOI laws. In the previous Congress, March 2014 the Senate passed our own version of the FOI bill on 3rd reading with 22 senators supporting the bill. However the house of representatives were not able to pass the FOI kung kaya't hindi pa natin naisasabatas ngayon. Our new president however in an unprecedented move, issued Executive Order No. 2 operationalizing the people's right to information within the executive branch. However laudable there's still an urgent need to pass the freedom of information law for five reasons.

First, the scope of the executive order only covers the executive department and agencies. Executive orders are administrative in nature and do not pass beyond the limits in which they are directed or in which they are published and therefore create no rights in third person.

Second, the right to information in it's substantive and procedural aspects needs to be clarified and defined. In the bills filed, there is a procedure laid down which is uniform for all offices.

Third, a law compared to an EO, can impose well-defined exceptions to the right to information.

Fourth, the EO does not provide the funding but we can provide appropriations through our law. We need to institutionalize the FOI program so that it will not be removed or underfunded depending on the whims of the next president.

Fifth, an executive order can provide for administrative penalties but a law can provide for both administrative and criminal liability. Fear of criminal sanctions would improve effectivity.

Because openness is fundamental to the democratic life of the country, access to information should be a key feature of our government. People should be able to understand and process such information meaningfully and expeditiously. would I would therefore, like to add that our proposed law is not just about transparency and accountability, it is also about creating an enabling environment for social participation. Those who have been traditionally excluded from formal decision-making processes, such as those belonging to marginalized sectors, will now have the opportunity to engage in political participation, not just as a voter or candidate, but in all important aspects of public affairs.

Although we have already tackled the FOI law in the previous Congress, it is necessary to conduct committee hearings on the bills that have been referred to our committee. We shall however adopt the proceedings from the hearings conducted in the last Congress.

In today's hearing, we have invited the representatives from civil society and media. You are the sectors who should be enabled to make full use of this law in your pursuit of transparency and accountability in public service. Hence, we have invited you to this hearing because we value your opinion on what features and provisions are crucial to the FOI bill.